“Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over?” – Isaiah 51:10
bridge n. 1. A structure spanning and providing passage over an obstacle. 2. Something resembling or analogous to a bridge.
In a primitive land, far away and long ago, villagers placed slabs of stone in the stream to get over to the other side. Thus began the first bridge. To build a bridge is a most natural thing to do.
For as long as people have been separated they have been trying to bridge the gap. To get connected. To come together.
Branches laid across a stream. Timber, stone and brick. Concrete, iron and steel. Long suspension bridges, and arch and girder. The Golden Gate Bridge. Brooklyn Bridge. “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” The Bridges of Madison County. The Bridge Over the River Kwai.
Bridges that span deep gorges. Bridges across wide rivers. Bridges over the bay. Train bridges. Covered bridges. Car bridges. Foot bridges. Bringing people together.
When I was in Army infantry training we learned that troops can’t go wherever they want. They have to find the bridge. If the enemy wants to control passage, they guard the bridge. If we want to cut them off, we blow up their bridges.
Walls are everywhere, but so are bridges. Whether you build a wall or a bridge depends upon your purpose. Do we want to let our mates in, or keep them out?
The motivations to build a wall are fear, anger and disappointment. The motivations to build a bridge are the desire for intimacy, to give and receive love, and to have a friend. Walls keep us apart; bridges bring us together.
The most important bridge in marriage is communication. Words are the slabs of stone in the stream that get us over to the other side. Listening is the bridge that draws our mate over to us. Whatever obstacle we may have in our marriages, it is communication that spans the gap. Let the redeemed cross over to one another.
A marriage without walls is a marriage with bridges. Walls artificially keep us apart, but to build a bridge is a most natural thing to do.